Molding device



May 25, v1937. H.- H. HOLLY MOLDING 'DEVICE Filed Feb. 24, 1956 HAR/RVH HOM y /M/f/v Tof? Paf??l une jr'fo. 4 44 patentea May 2s, 193i i 2,081,455

UNITED STATE-s PATENT OFFICE MoLmNG DEVICE Harry H. Holly, Chicago, Ill., assignor of'onehalfto Albert J. Fihe, Chicago, Ill.

Application February 24, 19.36, Serial No. 65,380

7 Claims. (Cl. 107-8) This` invention relates to improvements in structure, the upright I4 extending to a height molding devices, and has for one of its principal greater than that of the element I2 and having objects, the provisionoof a device for molding or an extension I8 which is considerably higher than forming meat patties such as those used in sandthe rest of the apparatus and flOm Which depends wiches commonly known as hamburgers and a helical spring 20, this Spring having S.10W1 5 also for various `other products such as sausages end Connected t0 the uppelmOSt bar 0f a Pair 0f or other comestibles. parallel elements 22 and 24, the inner ends of One of the important objects of this invention which are pivotally mllntefl at and 28 respecis to provide a semi-automatic molding device for tively t0 the Support |4- The 0111381' ends 0f these in meats or the like, which shall, in addition to pairs or links are pivoted at and 32 respectively 1o eiecting a saving of considerable time and labor, to a member 34 which is accordingly Constrained also produce a uniform product and one whic to move in a path wherein it is at all times parallel is more appetizing to the eye. to the support I4.

A further object of the invention resides in the At the IOWeI end 0f the element 34 iS lemOVably l5 provision of means for molding food products mounted, by means of a dovetaiied groove or the 15 or the like which shall be quite desirable from a like 3'6, a mold element 38 which has its outer face sanitary point of view, inasmuch as the food recessed as best shown in Figure 3 so as to receivematerial is never touched by the hands of the and correspOndnglY Shape a quantity 0f meat operator, and which, furthermore, upon being or other product 40 which is desired to be molded.

20 completely formed or molded in the machine, is Mounted in an opposed relationship to the 20' automatically deposited upon a sheet of waxed molding 0r fOrmiIlg head'element 33 is a I'eCeSSed paper or the like which shall keep the same clean structure 42 preferably square in cross-section and fresh until usedi Vand which is adapted to contain a plurality of cor- Another and still further important object of respondingly shaped and sized sheets of waxed the invention is the provision in a meat molding paper as best shown at 44 in Figure 3. The for- 25 machine or similar apparatus of means whereby ward face of .this receptacle 42 is interiorly a considerable saving in the use of paper or other notched by horizontal grooves as at 46 in Figure 5 wrappers willbeeiected. in order to prevent undesirable withdrawal of Other and further important objects of the more than one sheet of paper at a time after the 3;) invention will be apparent from the disclosures molding operation has been completed'. 30 in the accompanying drawing and following Mounted on the forward faceof the mold elespecification. ment 38 is a clip'or the like 48 adapted to re- The invention, in a preferred form, is shown in movably supporta sheet of waxed paper which. the drawing and hereinafter more fully dewhen the head 38 is propelled downwardly prefscribed. erably by a manual operation, isforced inwardly 35 In the'drawing: by the action of the downward movement against Figure lis a front elevation of the improved the air somewhat as illustrated in the dotted lines meat molding machine of this inve tion, iilusin Figure 2'. A suitably gaged amount of meat trating a. preferred embodiment ther of. or other product having been previousiy'placed Au Figure 2 is a side elevation of the device, showon the top of the stacked sheets of paper 44 in 40 ing the operation in dotted lines the receptacle 42, the molding head on its down- Figure 3 is a sectional view of1part of the apward movement rst forces the sheet of paper 5l paratus taken on` the line 3-3 of "Figure 1 and inwardly and into position above the meat 40, and l showing the interior arrangement of parts and thence the head, continuing its downward mo- 4;, the positioning of same just after the molding or tion, attens the meat or other product between 45 forming operation has been completed. the sheet 50 and the uppermost sheet 44, making Figure 4 is a side elevation of the stacked comthe molded product conform to the contour of pleted products of theapparatus. the recess in the head 38. Upon upward 'move- Figure 5 is an enlarged view of .a portion of ment of the head 38, due to the action of the 50 Figure 3. spring 20, the sheet of paper 50 is pulled away 5o As shown in the drawing: from the molded meat. leaving one of the lower The reference numeral I0 indicates generally sheets of paper 44 adhering to the under-face of the base of the improved molding machine of this the now molded material whichis then placed invention, the same having uprights l2 and I4 upon an extension or shelf 52 of the framework I2.

connected bv cross-pieces IS to form a rigid. As the molding operation proceeds, the individual 55 patties, each with a sheet of paper 44 adhering to its bottom, are stacked upon each other as best shown in Figure 4, preferably on the shelf 52 until a desired number have been formed, whereupon a final covering sheet of paper 54 is applied to the heap which can then be transferred to a refrigerator or other receptacle for storage until ready` for use. In this manner, the molded patties are kept clean and fresh, and whenever one or more is desired for use, the same are taken from the receptacle, placed face down on a cooking ele- .ment, the sheet of paper 44 pulled off, and the food has thus been prepared for cooking and is finally deliveredto the consumer without having been once touched by human hands.

The sheet 50 is used over and over until such time as the operator may consider a replacement advisable, and in this way, only one sheet of paper is necessary for each patty while, at the same time, sticking of the material to the inner face of the mold or to any portion of the apparatus is absolutely and positively prevented.

The head or molding element 38 is made removable from the element 34 so that patties of various sizes, shapes and thicknesses can be produced in one machine simply by chan-ging the recessed molding element, and itv will be evident that herein is provided a means and mechanism for rapidly and easily producing a quantity of uniform meat patties or other molded products in a sanitary and economical manner, and it will be further evident that While the operation here is semi-automatic, the same could be readil37 altered to produce a fully automatic mechanism, as a measured quantity of material could be deposited on the platen d2 in some mechanicalmanner, and a motor or other driving mechanism could be employed to reciprocate the head and support 38--34 at intervals correspondingly spaced with the operations of depositing the material 4G on the platen or other portion. of the mold. Furthermore, the useof air currents produced by the downward motion of the head to automatically force a sheet 50 into proper position with regard to the molding head and the product to be formed is considered quite a novel and useful expedient.

I am aware that many changes may be made and numerous details of construction varied throughout a wide range without departing from the principles of this invention, and I, therefore, do not purpose limiting the patent granted hereon otherwise than as necessitated by the prior art.

I claim as my invention:

1. A mold, including a recessed element, a liner therefor, means for supporting the liner on the recessed element, an opposed support for material to be molded, and means for moving the recessed element downwardly and outwardly toward the support, which movement causes the mold liner to be blown into position under the recessed element. A

2. A mold comprising a fixed lower receptacle, means for positioning a plurality of product supporting sheets in the receptacle, a molding head, a repeating liner for vthe head, and means for automatically. removing the liner from the head and from each completed molded object while leaving a supporting sheet under the object.

3. A mold for plastic substances, comprising a ixed support, means for positioning a plurality of substance supporting sheetson the support, a molding head, a liner therefor, means for reciprocatively positioning the head above the support for a downward angular movement with respect thereto, and means for supporting the liner o n the head by one edge, whereupon each molding movement blows the liner under the head.

4. A mold comprising a xed support, means for positioning a plurality of sheets in the support, a molding head, means for reciprocatlvely positioning the head above the support, a mold lining sheet, and means for attaching said sheet along its upper edge to the forward outer portion of the molding head, whereby a downward and outward movement of the head causes the sheet to be blown under the head in lining position, said attaching means further operating to automatically remove said mold lining sheet from the v upper face of the molded product upon the completion of the molding operation, and a subsequent upward and inwardamovement of the head.

5. A mold comprising a fixed support, means for positioning a purality of waxed sheets in the support, a molding head, means for reciprocatively positioning the head aboveI the support, a mold lining means including a sheet of paper corresponding to the sheets in the support, and means for attaching said sheet of paper along its upper edge to the forward outer portion of the molding head, whereby a downward and outward movement of the head causes the sheet to be blown under the head in lining position, said paper attaching and headreciprocating means further )35 operating to automatically remove said mold lining sheet of paper from the upper face. of the molded product upon the completion of the molding operation, and a consequent upward movement of the molding head, and to thereupon position the lining sheet of the molding head forFl another and similar mold lining operation.

6. A mold, including a supporting framework, a molding platform on the framework, means for supporting a plurality of lining sheets on the platform, a rearward upward extension of the framework, a set of parallel links mounted on the framework, a reciprocating element pivotally connected to the forward ends of the links, a molding head removably mounted on the lower end of the reciprocating element, means for normally raising the reciprocating element, links and molding head into an inoperative position, and elements associated wmh the platform for preventing the withdrawal of more than one lining sheet with each completed object.

7. A patty mold, including a supporting frame- Work, a moldingV platform/ on the framework, means for supporting a plurality of patty lining sheets on the platform, a molding head movable to and from the platform, elements associated with the platform for preventing the withdrawal 

